I genuinely haven’t ridden a mountain bike in 20 years, so this was all new to me! I had a great time learning the basics of mountain biking around the trails at Garvagh Forest and now want to buy a mountain bike. Let me know in the comments what I should buy!
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[Music] [Laughter] [Music] this is not a road bike and this is not a road i am here at garver forest i’m dressed head to toe in rudy gear but i had to give mountain bike and i go you know they’re saying all the gear no idea i have none of the gear and no idea but johnny i also have none of the gear now some of the gear some of the idea more of an idea than me and johnny is one of the guys from connect that i ride with so johnny’s going to show me the ropes um on mountain biking because this sunday we are entering north coast trail quest series so it’s like mountain bike orienteering and while i think i’ll be mostly fire track and not trails um i haven’t been on a mountain bike in probably 20 years so figured it was a good idea to give it a go so johnny’s going to give me a crash hopefully not an actual crash course but a crash course in mountain biking this evening so it’s a case of building your speed up before you get to it and then keeping your pedals just nice and flat okay and then whenever you drill down then that’s when you kind of elongate your your arms and you can pull up okay push yourself through okay okay flip a knock [Music] so [Music] you’re alive i didn’t fall off oh my legs are like jelly oh that is good fun it’s a bit weird trying to learn when to pedal when not to pedal figuring out the new gears and the handlebars are so wide learning to trust the bike cornering it’s terrifying cornering cornering on gravel especially because i’m so used to i see gravel trying to avoid that so going against all my intuition as already johnny’s showing me the ropes on the skills course skills track and i didn’t fall off though there’s still time and so i’m confident that i kind of know what to do and i’m going to actually go on to the trails now so yeah i’m really enjoying it good fun i don’t think i’ll give up the road cycling but i’ll probably do mountain biking a bit more [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] uh [Applause] that was harder that one was definitely harder than the first one there was no not as many rulers or berms or anything but it was just like it was fast and through those corners there’s one corner there i was nearly just straight through that’s good you’re gonna go home and i’ll buy mountain bikes yes so i don’t actually own a mountain bike yet i could be very tempted to buy one tell you what johnny my heart rate is through the roof it’s a serious workout it’s good for the winters yeah when the roads are slipping yep so red difficult experience mountain bikers no with good off-road riding skills no suitable for better quality off-road mountain bikes well give it a go anyway yeah right okay let’s do it [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] okay [Music] so [Music] i love it johnny says uh i’m good to have along because i make good sound effects okay just like berms and little rock gardens scare me i’m all about like shout out and get over them but it’s good fun um yeah i think that’s done gonna head home and i’ve really really enjoyed that really good fun and i don’t know much about my mountain biking or mountain bikes so if any of you can leave me a comment share some advice down below about buying a mountain bike um i ride a canyon road bike i would love to buy a canyon mountain bike but they don’t ship to northern ireland but i mean what should i be looking for on a mountain bike i’m probably going to go hardtailing that much um but should i be going 29 this is a 29 i’m on should i be going 29 should have been going 27 and a half why else do i need to know leave me a comment down below with all the other info and that i i need to know about buying a mic and i might see about buying one so yeah i might be biking really really good fun i really enjoyed that um i probably will get on my bike at some point and i can’t really decide between a mountain bike a gravel bike um but something to to complement my road bike so i can do trails and that sort of thing so if you’ve got any advice about off-road type bikes please like i said leave me a comment down below and with any advice suggestions what else should be looking for different things like that that would be great and now just to finish this video off i am going to announce the winner of the real strap from the little giveaway that i was doing for my last video so i have all the participants listed out in a little spreadsheet here and number one through nine and if i go to random.org minimum is one maximum is nine press generate it is number seven so the winner is steve brill at brill picks congratulations steve i will be in touch by instagram to get your details and get the strap posted out to you so thanks to everybody who entered the competition i really appreciate it and steve i hope you enjoy your new strap and for anybody else who wants to check out the strap i’ll put a link down to the website in the description of this video anyway and thank you for watching this video i hope you enjoyed slightly different content a bit of mountain biking a bit of off-road stuff and please hit like and leave me a comment down below and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and i will see you guys in the next video [Music] [Music] you
6 Comments
Thanks so much for the strap Connor! I've never won anything in my life before. I look forward to future content. 😀
Good luck on the trails. Your best bet would be getting an enduro bike 👍
Hi Connor, I was out yesterday mountain biking and hired out a Merida Big Seven 80. Great bike and thinking of getting one myself + good sizes and price.
look like nice flowy trails, a lot less rocky than Kilbroney!
Hi connor, the advice I would give you is start with a hardtail from one of the best brands. Vitus bikes which are chain reaction own brand are the best value for money for the spec you get plus if any problem you can just head down to Belfast. Call in to see pat in cookstown cycles for a look around and advice.
Welcome (back) to mountain bikes! I experienced a similar phenomenon where I was a roadie, but friends of mine were riding mountain bikes and I wanted to join them. After a year of riding dirt, I don't seek out my road bike for rides anymore. Riding the dirt is so much more engaging and interesting to me, and as you've experienced, the exercise is a lot more intense.
The trails you rode in the video are easily handled by a hardtail. I recommend 29" wheels since they're less likely to get hung up on things like rock gardens and sharp transitions from tech features back to dirt. Some other things I've learned regarding bikes:
– I think Shimano Deore XT components are the best value for money. Deore is a really good budget-conscious choice if you need to spend less on the bike.
– Take a look at Scott and Orbea bikes. I don't know how easy they are to get in Ireland, but they're a nice blend of light weight, features and geometry.
– If you get a bike that has a lock out on the fork, then it will also be useful as a flat bar gravel bike. You could go a step further and get a set of gravel-specific tires for those rides, although there are a lot of fast-rolling 29 x 2.2" XC mountain bike tires that would work well for both types of riding.
– Ensure the bike you pick can accommodate a dropper post if it doesn't come with one. Once your skills develop far enough, the dropper post expands the bike's performance envelope a lot.
– I've had good luck so far with tires from Maxxis, Schwalbe and Vittoria.
– For entry-level to mid-range suspension, I think Fox is a little better than RockShox because their stuff has little to no stiction at the beginning of a suspension movement. The top-end stuff from Fox and RockShox are equivalent in that way, with slight differences in how each brand behaves in the middle of the suspension travel.
– Shimano brakes generally work better than SRAM Level, especially at entry-level to mid-range price points.
– I like Shimano drivetrains over SRAM for one single reason. SRAM has a 10-52 cassette that's speced on almost all current bikes, but there's a jump from 42 teeth to 52 teeth on the largest two cogs. It's slightly disruptive when you go to grab that last cog since your cadence changes so much. Shimano has a 10-51 cassette, but the difference in ratios isn't abrupt.
– I've had good luck with Zoic riding shorts. Their chamois are good quality, they fit well and the freedom of movement is quite good. You can also buy just the outer part of the short and use your favorite bibs underneath if you'd rather. I sometimes do that and it works really well.
– Take time to bed the brakes in on pavement completely before hitting the trail. It will help keep the brakes quieter. I go a step further and remove the pads when I wash my bike to prevent contamination of the pads.